Preschoolers' group bias in punishing selfishness in the Ultimatum Game.

Previous studies have shown that both adults and children tend to favor members of their own group and expect reciprocity of such in-group privilege. If a person is treated unfairly by an in-group member, a conflict arises between the tendency of in-group favoritism and the desire to punish violators of in-group norms. How do children solve the conflict at different points in development? We compared how preschoolers punished in-group and out-group members (marked by color preference) for selfishness in the Ultimatum Game. We found that (a) 3- to 6-year-old Chinese children rejected selfish allocations more often than fair ones, showing a robust preference for fairness; (b) 3- and 4-year-olds showed no group differences in their punishment behavior, suggesting that second-party punishment of selfishness is not biased during early childhood; (c) 5- and 6-year-old girls were more likely to punish selfishness of in-groups than of out-groups, illuminating an early sign of maintaining group-based fairness norms even at a personal cost; and (d) 5- and 6-year-old boys, however, punished in-groups and out-groups equally often and punished out-groups more often than did girls. These age and gender differences in children's punishment imply that socialization may play an important role in showing group bias when enforcing fairness norms.

Characterization of the life cycle of the tick Haemaphysalis tibetensis under field conditions in Qinghai-Tibet plateau.

The tick Haemaphysalis tibetensis Hoogstraal is found uniquely in the Qinghai-Tibet plateau of Tibet and Gansu of China. Not much is known of this tick. Therefore, in this study we investigated the life cycle of H. tibetensis under field conditions from March 2014 to March 2015 in Damxung County, north Lhasa City in Tibet (Autonomous Region in China). The results of the study demonstrated that the tick H. tibetensis requires an average of 177.8 days (range 129-202 days) to complete a life cycle, with rabbits supplied as hosts in the field plot. Under natural lighting and climate conditions, the feeding period of females was an average of 7.7 days, and the pre-oviposition period was 9.4 days, followed by 28.2 days for oviposition. The premolting period of nymphs lasted 52.7 days, which was the longest life cycle phase. The average weight ratio of engorged to unfed females was 58.2. Additionally, there was a highly positive correlation between the weight of engorged and the number of the eggs that were laid (r = 0.83, P < 0.05). The reproductive efficiency index and reproductive fitness index in females were 5.1 and 4.7, respectively.

Abundance and seasonal activity of Haemaphysalis concinna (Acari: Ixodidae) at the border between China and Russia in Northern Inner Mongolia, China.

BACKGROUND: Haemaphysalis concinna, a three-host tick vector of several pathogens, poses a high risk to the health of humans and livestock. However, knowledge of the seasonal activities, relative density and other ecological characteristics of this tick is quite limited and fragmentary. This knowledge gap represents a bottleneck in our understanding of the health risks associated with tick-borne pathogens. METHODS: We conducted a two-year study from April 2012 to March 2014 in Northern Inner Mongolia situated on the China-Russia border, China, to investigate the seasonal activities and relative density of the three developmental stages of H. concinna. During the study period, feeding ticks were removed weekly from domestic sheep and their attachment sites were recorded. Questing ticks were collected weekly from five habitats (broadleaf forest, coniferous forest, shrubs, grassland and mixed coniferous forest) using the flagging-dragging method of capture. Rodents were captured and examined on two consecutive nights each week from June to September in 2012. RESULTS: H. concinna ticks were found mainly in shrubs and grasslands habitats. Adults were encountered from February to October with the major peak occurring in June. Larvae, which were observed mainly from late April to late September, reached peak numbers in late July. Nymphs were observed mainly from March to October, and their numbers peaked in early July. H. concinna adults and nymphs were found attached to sheep and their most favored sites of attachment were the face and ears. H. concinna larvae were found on two rodent species, Apodemus peninsulae and Eutamias sibiricus. CONCLUSION: The relative density and seasonal activities of H. concinna have been systematically reported for Northern Inner Mongolia, China. The information about the hosts infested by H. concinna and its preferred attachment sites on sheep will help efforts to control this tick and the tick-borne diseases carried by it.

A lectin from Musca domestica pupae stimulates B cell proliferation and enhances IL-12 production via ERK1/2-NF-κB signaling pathways.

A D-galactose-specific lectin, MW = 40 kDa, had been purified from pupae of Musca domestica (MPL). MPL significantly promoted the proliferation of B cells and enhanced the production of IL-12 in a dose-dependent manner. MPL stimulated IκB-α degradation, NF-κB translocation and ERK1/2 phosphorylation which played an upstream role for NF-кB in MPL-induced B cells. Moreover, MPL regulated cell proliferation and induced IL-12 production through ERK1/2-NF-κB signaling pathway.